Hello Muse Readers. Happy October. Sorry for the tardy posting of the October Muse, but I suffered a minor crisis- my antiquated web design application got corrupted, and I had to migrate to Dreamweaver which I really don't know how to use. If the layout in not centered and there are even more typos than usual- I ask for your forgiveness in advance!

As usual, I am living my life in 15 minute intervals at this time of year. I am okay so long as I do not dare to think about what I am going to attempt to undertake in a single day, as it is usually not conducive to keeping my sanity. But, I have learned that it behooves me to stay in the moment and just move forward toward my goals doing the best that I can. When I do this, things just magically seem to fall into place. The less I "do" the more others step in, and all is well. Well, at least most of the time.

When I do not follow this principle, all hell breaks loose. Take the other night for example: It had been a busy day of catch-up after a 3 day weekend and a day at Disneyland the day before. Work, teen pick up, soccer practice, and finally home by 7:30 to heat up spaghetti sauce ( I had made the meatballs on Sunday to save time. ) We sat down to eat by 8 PM and the only comment I got regarding dinner was a question regarding was the sauce burnt. This wasn't the comment I was looking for needless to say.

I was trying to prioritize how the school uniforms would be washed as there was a full washer and dryer ahead of them, dishes would get done, lunches packed, when Buddha Boy casually mentioned that he didn't quite grasp the meanings of the open circle vs. closed circle on the number line. Ah! this was something that I could help with- though I was rusty on the concept- I was certain that if he just gave me 10 minutes to read through the chapter with him, we could clear this up. I asked for assistance with the dishes and laundry so I could enter tutor mode, and I was declined on both requests. Then Buddha Boy declined to let me assist with the Math.

It felt like rebellion coming at me from all sides. Of course I was trying to do too much and not letting things take their natural order. 3 minutes into the forced math review ( I even set the timer for 10 minutes and promised not to raise my voice or go over the time limit ) the phone rang and Buddha Boy's friend rang the doorbell to retrieve his items he left at our house. They trotted outside and the timer buzzed. I used this opportunity to rinse the drying sauce off of the dinner dishes. Buddha Boy's friend, who is one of the kindest young men I have ever met, spent about 2 minutes to clear up the math issue. Buddha Boy then gave me the silent treatment as though I was an evil zombie. The next morning Soccer Boy accused me of raiding his car insurance fund ( I do admit, that I have used it as an at home ATM- but I always jot down the amounts borrowed and the date returned ) and we got into a tussle.

I roared, and then I crumbled, and then I did the laundry. I secretly vowed to stop speaking to certain members of my family without the protection of a running tape recorder so that I could prove my words and intentions. It seemed as though I was saying one thing and they were hearing another. And this is what got me to Musing on Logic.

How is it that we come to the conclusions we come to? And why do different people come to different conclusions? This is what makes us human! Philosophers have been trying to answer this question for a very long time. According to Wikepedia, the study of logic figures in most major areas: epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, mathematics, linguistics, philosophy, semantics and computer science to name but a few.

The term "Logic' is derived from a Greek word ( and I haven't figured out how to copy and paste in this damn Dreamweaver- so you don't get to see the Greek symbols here grrr...) and it is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. It was studied in several ancient cavitations, including the Indian Subcontinent, China and Greece. It was later established as a discipline by Aristotle ( Oh how I would love to have tea with that man! ) who gave it a fundamental place in philosophy.

The study of logic is often divided into two parts, Inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning, the process of deriving a reliable generalization from observations- for example:

1) 90% of men are right handed

2) Joe is a man

Therefore, Joe is probably right-handed.

Therefore, the probability that Joe is right-handed is 90%.

Here is a weaker example of inductive probabilistic reasoning which excludes mathematical induction, which is considered to be a form of deductive reasoning:

1) Every time I see you after you've gone out with Johnny, you're stoned.

2) You went out with Johnny.

Therefore, you must be stoned.

Deductive reasoning is reasoning which constructs or evaluates deductive arguments. Deductive reasoning attempts to show that a conclusion necessarily follows from a set of premises or hypothesis. A deductive argument is valid if the conclusion does follow necessarily from the premises, provided that the premises are true. Deductive arguments are either valid or invalid. Right or wrong. This is what we often refer to as "black and white thinking." Here is an example:

1) All men are mortal

2) Socrates is a man

Therefore Socrates is a man.

If the premises are indeed true, there is no possibility that the conclusion can be false. The argument is "proven" in other words. Inductive reasoning, on the other hand,allows for the possibility that the conclusion is false, even when all of the premises are true. And using my mad inductive reasoning skills, I will argue that conclusions based on inductive reasoning open the door to unsavory social interaction. At least in my house.

Which brings us to the lovely syllogism, which takes two conditional statements and forms a conclusion by combining the hypothesis of one statement with the conclusion of another. Here is an example:

1) If Larry is sick, then he will be absent from school.

2) If Larry is absent, then he will miss his class work.

Therefore, if Larry is sick, then he will miss his class work.

We deduced the solution by combining the hypothesis of the first problem with the conclusion of the second statement. We can also conclude that this could be a false statement. In other words- there are good sound reasons, and reasons that sound good. Very different animals. Generalizing can be useful but can also bring you into dangerous territory. So I think I will either have to shut my mouth until I have first proven my premises, and then pull out that tape recorder and record those premises so that my arguments cannot be misconstrued. I do hope you have enjoyed the crash course in Logic courtesy of Wikepedia.